I realise €22,000 is a lot of money. And I’m depressed to read that CIT students are being shoved into cold caravans. However, there were two portraits, yes? Of two different people?

I’m not sure what the going rate for an oil portrait is these days, but certainly it is traditional for presidents of universities and presumably colleges to have their portraits done whilst sitting in office. The fact CIT has an art department is the WORST possible excuse for cheaping out and “just getting a student to do it” – artists should be valued and paid accordingly, and presumably CIT would like its art students to graduate into a world where their education will net them paying gigs.

Having said all of that, obviously we should not be flying subjects TO FRANCE for this sort of thing. Pay a decent wage, but for God’s sake, this island is filled to the brim with talented, starving artists. How hard could it have been to commission this at home?

At what point does networking and blogging take up so much time that there’s no time to do the things with which you wanted networking and blogging to help?